The impact of investments already facilitated towards capital deployment or implementation in Namibia stands at N$4.83 billion. 

Namibia has secured about N$94.72 billion worth of potential investments that are being facilitated.

“The amount excludes the big investment of Hyphen Energy (the preferred bidder for the green hydrogen project), but there are a few green hydrogen projects that are included.” 

According to the CEO of the Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board (NIPDB), Nangula Uaandja, Namibia’s marketing efforts are working.

These potential private investments in the pipeline have the potential to create 122 000 new jobs, Uaandja said yesterday during a media engagement. 

She added the total gross domestic product (GDP) impact of potential investments, based on multiplier effect, is around N$185.51 billion. 

According to her, the diversification sectors that are expected to drive the economy as identified are food and agro-processing, transport and logistics, metals, mining and adjacent industries, machinery and electronics, services (digital and global business), chemicals and basic materials, as well as renewable energy.

Uaandja explained the board exists to unlock opportunities while enabling a better quality of life for all Namibians. 

During her presentation, the CEO said Namibia has received huge foreign direct investments (FDI) in the past but they were capital intensive, meaning they failed to create sustainable jobs, thus the country is fighting with high unemployment rates as one of the challenges.

“The economy currently is left with two options, which is to source investment that can create much-needed jobs with the second to export more than imports. The other options in the macroeconomics equation are exhausted because consumers are unable to spend in the economy due to inflation and other factors, while government also trimmed its spending for the last couple of years to fight debt-to-GDP ratio,” she explained.

She stated the board is fast-tracking investment opportunities it found in the pipeline while sourcing new ones. 

She further assured government is having conversations on how to help consumers who are at the moment facing many financial attacks due to many price hikes.